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Question:
please help to explain the phrase "by the word of God the heavens were of
old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water" in 2 Peter
3:5 in the context of this morning's
sermon.
An
answer:
Good
question!
V4 reads: "And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."
The
time reference here is "for since the fathers fell asleep..." so the
phrase that followed "all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation" must be understood from that time reference. If we
overlook that, we will confuse the creation of the nation of Israel spoken of
here in verse 4 by the scoffers and the creation of the literal heavens and
earth spoken of in verse 5.
Verse
4 is the argument of the scoffers that Israel has stood ever since its founding
for thousands of years, ever since its beginning with the founding fathers, the
patriarch.
Verse
5 is the Apostle Peter's rebuttal against the scoffers. Apostle Peter rebuked the
Jewish scoffers by charging them that they are willfully ignorant of the truth
plainly found in the Scriptures, i.e.,
-
the heavens and earth brought into being by God's own words (v5), even that
suffered catastrophic judgment (v6) of the flood,
-
Having pointed out this biblical fact which the scoffers were willfully ignorant
of, Apostle Peter then applied the truth to the issue at hand... the continuation of Israel till then, first
century, in verse 7.
V7
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly men."
-
Because of the phrase "the heavens and the earth" sound so much like
speaking of the literal creation (in Gen 1), it is easy to think that Peter is
still speaking of the creation in Genesis.
-
But the phrase is a reference to the nation of Israel in the prophecies by the
holy prophets in the context of God's judgment upon Israel.
- Notice the phrase "WHICH ARE NOW"-
Israel has continued to the time of Apostle Peter's penning his epistle (c.c
AD66).
-
But soon, they shall be shaken out of
their places, prophesied the holy prophets.
Hag
2
6
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will
shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
21
Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and
the earth...
Joel
3:16
The
LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the
heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people,
and the strength of the children of Israel.
Isaiah
13
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her
place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
(Here, the similar language is descriptive of the momentous judgment in
uprooting Israel and exiling to
Babylon.)
Isaiah
65
18
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind.
22
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain
before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Malachi
3
2 But
who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for
he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3 And
he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons
of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD
an offering in righteousness.
Matthew
3
7
¶But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he
said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?...
12
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his
wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Compare
the prophetic language with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in His prophecy
in Mt 24:
29¶
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Notice
the similar cosmic language. The momentous event - the ending of a theocratic
kingdom that has endured for thousands of years, through the rise and fall of
many mighty empires - is fittingly expressed with the cosmic language.
I
hope this helps.
Please
ask further.
